LAKEPORT, Calif. – The dogs featured at Lake County Animal Care and Control this week include several Labrador Retriever and Chihuahua mixes.

There also are dogs whose ancestry includes beagle, Pomeranian and dachshund.

Thanks to Lake County Animal Care and Control’s new veterinary clinic, many of the animals offered for adoption already are spayed or neutered and ready to go home with their new families.

Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.

If you're looking for a new companion, visit the shelter. There are many great pets hoping you'll choose them.

The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control Web site not listed are still “on hold”).

Labrador Retriever-beagle

This female Labrador Retriever-beagle mix is of undetermined age.

She weighs nearly 37 pounds, has a short black coat and is not yet spayed.

Find her in kennel No. 5a, ID No. 34314.

Labrador Retriever-beagle

Shelter staff has not given an age for this female Labrador Retriever-beagle mix.

She weighs 28 pounds, has a short black coat and has not yet been altered.

She’s in kennel No. 5b, ID No. 34315.

‘Mazie’

“Mazie” is a 5-year-old beagle-terrier mix.

She weighs 30 pounds, has a short brown coat, is spayed and has been microchipped.

She’s in kennel No. 6, ID No. 31277.

‘Maddie’

“Maddie” is a 4-year-old Chihuahua mix.

She has a short brown coat, weighs just over 5 pounds and has been spayed.

Find her in kennel No. 11, ID No. 34414.

Male chocolate lab mix

This male chocolate Labrador Retriever mix is 4 years old.

He has a short coat, weighs nearly 79 pounds and has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 13, ID No. 34415.

Female Pomeranian-dachshund mix

This female Pomeranian-dachshund mix puppy is 10 weeks old.

She has green eyes, a short tan coat and is spayed.

Find her in kennel No. 18b, ID No. 34349.

Dachshund-Chihuahua mix

This male dachshund-Chihuahua mix is 2 years old.

He has a short black coat and floppy ears.

He’s in kennel No. 20, ID No. 34206.

Border collie-Labrador Retriever mix

This female border collie-Labrador Retriever mix is 3 years old.

She’s got a short black and white coat, weighs 50 pounds and has not yet been spayed.

Find her in kennel No. 28, ID No. 34365.

‘Shadow’

“Shadow” is a 5-month-old female Chihuahua mix.

She has a short black coat and floppy ears, and is not yet altered.

Shadow is in kennel No. 30, ID No. 34344.

Adoptable dogs also can be seen at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dogs_and_Puppies.htm or at www.petfinder.com .

Please note: Dogs listed at the shelter's Web page that are said to be “on hold” are not yet cleared for adoption.

To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .

Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.

Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm .

For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed the California State Parks Stewardship Act of 2012, legislation jointly authored by Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro (D-North Coast) designed to make the State Parks system more self-sustaining and stop park closures.

Assemblyman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) served as the lead author of AB 1589, while Chesbro and a consortium of assemblymembers from both sides of the aisle served as joint and co-authors.

“It is phenomenal the amount of bipartisan support this bill had,” Chesbro said. “It is major legislation that will change the relationship between the state and State Parks, making State Parks more self-sufficient and well-funded with sustainable revenue sources. It will stop park closures, with a net long-term savings to the state’s general fund.”

AB 1589 calls on the Department of Parks and Recreation to develop a prioritized action plan to increase revenues and collection of unpaid user fees at state parks, while maintaining the character and values of the State Park System.

It also creates a State Park Enterprise Fund and states legislative intent regarding the need for a multi-disciplinary independent assessment of ways to ensure long-term management and sustainable funding options for state parks.

Additionally, it includes provisions that authorize the Department of Motor Vehicles to offer special fee-based state park license plates to support the park system and allow taxpayers to redirect portions of their tax refunds to the California State Parks Protection Fund in exchange for an annual state park day-use access pass.

“AB 1589 gives the state important tools for a future that is increasingly emphasizing the need for more self-generated revenue in our parks,” said California State Parks Foundation President Elizabeth Goldstein.

“While we do not believe that our state park system, a true public good, will ever be able to sustain itself without a core of dedicated, public funding, we do wholeheartedly agree that the movement toward more revenue generation should be done with a roadmap,” said Goldstein. “The action plan required in AB 1589 requires such a roadmap and maintains the need for revenue ideas to be appropriate to the mission and uses of our state parks. We look forward to working with the governor, Legislature and all Californians to implement provisions of AB 1589 and to maintain and strengthen the legacy in our state parks.”

“I’m proud to be joined by my colleagues from both parties in this effort to preserve our state parks,” said Huffman. “This bill gives the state additional tools it needs to help keep state parks open and provide for more sustainable management of parks in the future.”

COBB, Calif. – A Lower Lake woman injured in a single-vehicle crash on Thursday night later was arrested for driving under the influence.

The California Highway Patrol said Jennifer Dietrick, 27, was injured in the wreck, which occurred at approximately 8:07 p.m. Thursday.

Dietrick was driving her 1992 Honda Prelude eastbound on Highway 175 at an unknown speed when she lost control of her vehicle, which crossed the westbound lane, exited the roadway and struck a tree, the CHP said.

Dietrick was flown by REACH to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with possible fractured ankles and shoulder pain, according to the CHP.

The CHP report said Dietrick was arrested for driving under the influence.

CHP Officer Ryan Erickson is investigating the crash, the agency said.

COBB, Calif. – A moderate-sized earthquake was reported Saturday night in the Cobb area.

The 3.0-magnitude earthquake was reported at 7:13 p.m., according to the US Geological Survey’s preliminary report.

The quake was located two miles west of Cobb, three miles northeast of The Geysers and five miles northwest of Anderson Springs, at a depth of eight-tenths of a mile, the US Geological Survey said.

By 1 a.m. Sunday the survey had received two shake reports – one from Middletown, one from Petaluma – on the quake.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

NASA’s Curiosity rover mission has found evidence a stream once ran vigorously across the area on Mars where the rover is driving.

There is earlier evidence for the presence of water on Mars, but this evidence – images of rocks containing ancient streambed gravels – is the first of its kind.

“From the size of gravels it carried, we can interpret the water was moving about 3 feet per second, with a depth somewhere between ankle and hip deep,” said Curiosity science co-investigator William Dietrich of the University of California, Berkeley.

“Plenty of papers have been written about channels on Mars with many different hypotheses about the flows in them,” Dietrich said. “This is the first time we’re actually seeing water-transported gravel on Mars. This is a transition from speculation about the size of streambed material to direct observation of it.”

The finding site lies between the north rim of Gale Crater and the base of Mount Sharp, a mountain inside the crater.

Earlier imaging of the region from Mars orbit allows for additional interpretation of the gravel-bearing conglomerate.

The imagery shows an alluvial fan of material washed down from the rim, streaked by many apparent channels, sitting uphill of the new finds.

The rounded shape of some stones in the conglomerate indicates long-distance transport from above the rim, where a channel named Peace Vallis feeds into the alluvial fan.

The abundance of channels in the fan between the rim and conglomerate suggests flows continued or repeated over a long time, not just once or for a few years.

The discovery comes from examining two outcrops, called “Hottah” and “Link,” with the telephoto capability of Curiosity’s mast camera during the first 40 days after landing.

Those observations followed up on earlier hints from another outcrop, which was exposed by thruster exhaust as Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory Project’s rover, touched down.

“Hottah looks like someone jack-hammered up a slab of city sidewalk, but it’s really a tilted block of an ancient streambed,” said Mars Science Laboratory Project Scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

The gravels in conglomerates at both outcrops range in size from a grain of sand to a golf ball. Some are angular, but many are rounded.

“The shapes tell you they were transported and the sizes tell you they couldn’t be transported by wind. They were transported by water flow,” said Curiosity science co-investigator Rebecca Williams of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Ariz.

The science team may use Curiosity to learn the elemental composition of the material, which holds the conglomerate together, revealing more characteristics of the wet environment that formed these deposits.

The stones in the conglomerate provide a sampling from above the crater rim, so the team may also examine several of them to learn about broader regional geology.

The slope of Mount Sharp in Gale Crater remains the rover’s main destination. Clay and sulfate minerals detected there from orbit can be good preservers of carbon-based organic chemicals that are potential ingredients for life.

“A long-flowing stream can be a habitable environment,” said Grotzinger. “It is not our top choice as an environment for preservation of organics, though. We’re still going to Mount Sharp, but this is insurance that we have already found our first potentially habitable environment.”

For more about Curiosity, visit www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl .

You can follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter at www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and www.twitter.com/marscuriosity .

Dr. Tony Phillips works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

COBB, Calif. – A single-vehicle crash on Thursday night resulted in a woman being flown out of the county to a trauma center.

The crash occurred shortly after 8 p.m. on Highway 175 at Admiral Way. It involved a white Honda Prelude with a female driver, according to initial reports by the California Highway Patrol.

The CHP said the vehicle hit a tree. Reports from firefighters at the scene said extrication was needed to remove the female driver from the wreck, and both lanes of the highway were partially blocked.

A REACH air ambulance responded to a landing zone set up at Kit’s Corner, at the intersection of Highway 29 and Highway 281.

The CHP said later Thursday night that the collision resulted in minor injuries.  

CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – August was a devastating month for Patsy Thorburn, but September has been looking up.

On Aug. 12, Thorburn lost her home in Clearlake Oaks when it burned in the Wye Fire, which along with the Walker Fire scorched a total of 7,934 acres, as Lake County News has reported.

Thorburn barely escaped with her life as the fire raced up the hill and devoured her home. She had been trying to back her car out of the garage when she said her home exploded in flames.

She had tried to find her two cats, Sylvester and Muffin, but was chased from her home before the cats came to her call.

In an August interview with Lake County News, Thorburn – who lost everything in the fire – said she was saddest about her cats and her family pictures, which couldn’t be replaced like all of her other possessions.

But Thorburn, who is herself an optimist in spite of everything, this month had a happy ending of sorts when she was reunited with one of her precious felines.

On Sept. 3, Thorburn’s eldest daughter, Cathy Wilson, went up to the property overlooking Clearlake Oaks where the home had been located. Wilson later reported to her mother that she saw Sylvester, a female tuxedo cat, but that the cat wouldn’t come to her.

The next day, Sept. 4, was Thorburn’s birthday. She wanted to get a pizza and go up with her partner, Hank, to the property and look for the cat.

“We just waited and walked and walked and called her,” Thorburn said.

It was getting dark, and she was about to give up, when Thorburn said she saw the cat, sitting on a rock.

Thorburn said the cat came up to her carefully on tender, burned feet. All of her white markings were black with soot and her whiskers were singed and curled up.

“She was just a mess,” said Thorburn.

Despite being on her own for 21 days, Sylvester appeared to have been eating; Thorburn and her family had been taking food to the home site. She believes the cat had been hiding in rocks near the home and that’s how she survived.

There still hasn’t been any sign of Thorburn’s other cat, Muffin.

Sylvester went home with Thorburn and her partner, and she also got a trip to the vet for a checkup, where some of her matted fur was shaved off. “The vet said she was in surprisingly good health,” said Thorburn.

“She’s a happy, healthy cat now,” said Thorburn.

Things are looking up for Sylvester in other ways. “She’s loving being a house cat because she was never a house cat before,” Thorburn said.

She added, “She’s just a little miracle kitty.”

Thorburn said she’s not decided if she will rebuild the distinctive home she built with husband, Max, in 1990.

“I’m just taking it one day at a time,” she said.

She is, however, quick to point out that something good can come out of even the worst situations.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

This year’s largest earthquake, a magnitude 8.6 temblor on April 11 centered in the East Indian Ocean off Sumatra, did little damage, but it triggered quakes around the world for at least a week, according to a new analysis by seismologists from the University of California, Berkeley, and the U.S. Geological Survey.

The April 11 quake was unusually large – the tenth largest in the last 100 years and, similar to a few other recent large quakes, triggered small quakes during the three hours it took for seismic waves to travel through Earth’s crust.

The new study shows, however, that some faults weren’t rattled enough by the seismic waves to fail immediately, but were primed to break up to six days later.

The findings are a warning to those living in seismically active regions worldwide that the risk from a large earthquake could persist – even on the opposite side of the globe – for more than a few hours, the experts said.

“Until now, we seismologists have always said, ‘Don’t worry about distant earthquakes triggering local quakes,’” said Roland Burgmann, professor of earth and planetary science at UC Berkeley and coauthor of the study. “This study now says that, while it is very rare – it may only happen every few decades – it is a real possibility if the right kind of earthquake happens.”

“We found a lot of big events around the world, including a 7.0 quake in Baja California and quakes in Indonesia and Japan, that created significant local shaking,” Burgmann added. “If those quakes had been in an urban area, it could potentially have been disastrous.”

Burgmann and Fred F. Pollitz, Ross S. Stein and Volkan Sevilgen of the USGS will report their results online on Sept. 26 in advance of publication in the journal Nature.

Burgmann, Pollitz, a research seismologist, and their colleagues also analyzed earthquake occurrences after five other recent temblors larger than 8.5 – including the deadly 9.2 Sumatra-Andaman quake in 2004 and the 9.0 Tohoku quake that killed thousands in Japan in 2011 – but saw only a very modest increase in global earthquake activity after these quakes.

They said this could be because the East Indian Ocean quake was a “strike-slip” quake that more effectively generates waves, called Love waves, that travel just under the surface and are energetic enough to affect distant fault zones.

Burgmann explained that most large quakes take place at subduction zones, where the ocean bottom sinks below another tectonic plate.

This was the origin of the Sumatra-Andaman quake, which produced a record tsunami that took more than 200,000 lives.

The 2012 East Indian Ocean quake involved lateral movement – referred to as strike-slip, the same type of movement that occurs along California’s San Andreas Fault – and was the largest strike-slip quake ever recorded.

“This was one of the weirdest earthquakes we have ever seen,” Burgmann said. “It was like the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, a strike-slip event, but it was huge – 15 times more energetic. This earthquake and an 8.3 that followed were in a very diffuse zone in an oceanic plate close to the Sumatra subduction zone, but it wasn’t a single fault that produced the quake, it was a crisscrossing of three or four faults that all ruptured in sequence to make such a big earthquake, and they ruptured deep.”

The seismologists analysis found five times the expected number of quakes during the six days following the April 11 quake and aftershock.

An unusually low occurrence of quakes during the 6-12 days before that 8.6 quake may have accentuated the impact, possibly because there were many very-close-to-failure faults sensitive to a triggering shock wave, Pollitz said.

One possible mechanism for the delayed action, Burgmann said, is that the East Indian Ocean quake triggered a cascade of smaller, undetectable quakes on these faults that led to larger ruptures later on.

Alternatively, large quakes could trigger nearly undetectable tremors or microquakes that are a sign of slow slip underground.

“One possibility is that the earthquake immediately triggers slow slip in some places, maybe accompanied by detectable tremor, and then that runs away into a bigger earthquake,” Burgmann speculated. “Some slow slip events take days to a week or more to evolve.”

The work was supported by the USGS.

Robert Sanders works for the University of California, Berkeley News Center.

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The service of two search warrants by the Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force on Wednesday resulted in two arrests, the seizure of marijuana and $1,900.

Sgt. Steve Brooks said William Jason Coleman, 53, and Robin Louise Johnson, 54, both of Upper Lake, were arrested for cultivation of marijuana and possession of marijuana for sale.

In August, the Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force received information that Coleman had been arrested by the Texas Department of Public Safety for trafficking marijuana, Brooks said.

He said narcotics detectives subsequently conducted an overflight of Coleman’s property and located marijuana growing on the property.  

On Sept. 17 narcotics detectives secured a search warrant for Coleman’s person, home and vehicle, and on Wednesday at approximately 8 a.m. detectives served the warrant at Coleman’s home, which is located in the 13000 block of Elk Mountain Road, Brooks said. When detectives entered the property they detained Coleman and Johnson without incident.  

Narcotics detectives located and seized 38 large marijuana plants and 1.5 pounds of processed marijuana. Brooks said they also located and seized two firearms and $1,900.

Coleman told detectives that he grew marijuana for five other “patients,” but Brooks said Coleman had a difficult time remembering the names of those patients or where they lived, other than they all lived out of county.  

Brooks said Coleman claimed he did not receive money for the marijuana, that he just grew it and gave it away. Coleman also allegedly said that none of the “patients” had ever been to his house or assisted him with the marijuana, even though he claimed to be a caregiver.

Narcotics detectives interviewed Johnson, who claimed that even though she lives with Coleman, she has nothing to do with the marijuana plants at the house, Brooks said.

He said Johnson told detectives that she had her own marijuana grow located on property she owns.  Johnson claimed that she was growing the marijuana for “patients” but, like Coleman, could not remember their names. She also said she gives the marijuana away and does not sell it.  

As a result of her statement, narcotics detectives secured a search warrant for Johnson’s property, which is located in the 13000 block of White Rock Canyon Road, Brooks said.

On Wednesday at 2 p.m. detectives served the warrant on Johnson’s property. Brooks said they located and seized an additional 51 marijuana plants and a firearm. Detectives were unable to locate any medical recommendations for the marijuana.  

Coleman and Johnson were both arrested and transported to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility and booked, Brooks said.

Bail was set at $15,000 for each of them. Jail records showed that they later posted the required percentage of bail and were released.

The Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force can be contacted through its anonymous tip line at 707-263-3663.

MENDOCINO NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. – The Mendocino National Forest will be starting a year of visitor surveys this Monday, Oct. 1, at various sites on the forest.

The last survey was completed in 2008, and the surveys are conducted on forests nationally.

Surveys will continue through Sept. 30, 2013.

Forest Service employees and Student Conservation Association employees will be working in developed and dispersed recreation sites and along Forest Service roads.  

They will be wearing bright orange vests and near a sign that says “Traffic Survey Ahead.”

The interviewers will be out in all conditions daily for the next year.

Forest visitors are asked to stop and participate in the survey this year, sharing their experiences on the Mendocino National Forest.  

Participation is voluntary and all information is confidential – with no names being collected.  

Frequent forest visitors are encouraged to participate often. Forest managers are interested in feedback from local people using the forest frequently as well as out-of-area visitors.

The basic interview lasts about eight minutes. Every other visitor will be asked a few additional questions, which may take an additional five minutes.

About a third of all visitors will be asked to complete an additional confidential survey on recreation spending during their trip.

Visitors can expect questions about where they recreated, how many people traveled with them, how long they visited the forest, what recreation sites they visited during their stay, and how satisfied they are with the recreation facilities and services provided.

The information gathered is useful for forest planning, as well as state and local community tourism planning.  

It provides National Forest managers with estimates on the number of people recreating on federal lands and the types of activities they are engaging in.  

Information on the satisfaction of forest visitors is important in assessing the current and future recreational needs.  

Economic information gathered will help in estimating the impact to local communities.

For more information on the Forest Service National Visitor Use Monitoring Program, please visit www.fs.fed.us/recreation/programs/nvum .

For more information locally, please contact the Mendocino National Forest at 530-934-3316, or visit www.fs.usda.gov/mendocino .

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – On Friday St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake received some big news – the hospital was awarded a $497,076 grant for health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Lake County.

This grant is a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS’s) Community Transformation Grants (CTG) to support public health efforts to reduce chronic diseases, promote healthier lifestyles, reduce health disparities and control health care spending in small communities.

“St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake will collaborate with our community leaders and members over the next two years to make a real difference from a population health perspective,” said David Santos, vice president of Operations at St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake.

By focusing on where people live, work, learn and play, the CTG program is expected to improve the health of more than four out of 10 U.S. citizens, or about 130 million Americans.

Overall, HHS awarded approximately $70 million in prevention grants to 40 awardees focused on improving the health of small communities across the nation.

Awardees will conduct activities in one or more areas that contribute to the overall goals of the CTG program and help achieve positive changes in one or more of the following outcome measures: weight,  proper nutrition, physical activity, tobacco use, and social and emotional well-being.

St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake will tackle smoking cessation, obesity prevention, physical activity, nutrition and emotional health for Lake County residents.

“We’re looking forward to this opportunity to better the health and well-being of our community,” said Susan Jen, project director and executive director of the Health Leadership Network of Lake County. “This effort will engage our community organizations as well as our residents to improve our health status, building on our county’s positive attributes as we move forward – keeping our focus on wellness.”

Administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the CTG Program is a comprehensive prevention and wellness initiative launched in 2011 and funded through the Affordable Care Act’s Prevention and Public Health Fund.

These new funds will support areas with fewer than 500,000 people in neighborhoods, school districts, villages, towns, cities and counties. Awardees represent organizations committed to improving health from a multitude of sectors.

“Health care reform is saving money, saving lives and improving the health and wellbeing of our communities,” said Rep. Mike Thompson. “These funds will make Lake County healthier, and as we know, when folks are healthy, workforce productivity is up and costs are down. I am proud to have voted for the Affordable Care Act and will continue working to strengthen the great reforms we made.”

Support from the business community, school districts, community-based organizations, and other non-traditional partners is critical to reducing deaths and health costs due to heart attacks, strokes, cancer, diabetes and other serious health problems.

The Community Transformation Grants are one piece of a broader effort by the Obama Administration to address the health and well-being of U.S. communities through initiatives such as the President’s Childhood Obesity Task Force, the First Lady’s Let’s Move! campaign, the National Prevention Strategy, the National Quality Strategy, and HHS’ Million Hearts initiative.

The Prevention and Public Health Fund, as part of the Affordable Care Act, is supporting the CTG program and other initiatives designed to expand and sustain the necessary capacity to prevent chronic diseases, detect them early, manage conditions before they become severe, and provide states and communities the resources they need to promote healthy living.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Firefighters quickly contained a small wildland fire on Thursday afternoon.

The fire, which occurred in the 8500 block of Harrington Flat Road, was dispatched at 1:20 p.m., according to South Lake County Fire Battalion Chief Mike Wink.

Wink, who was at the scene, said South Lake County Fire and Cal Fire quickly responded with five fire engines, one water tender, two hand crews, three airplanes and one helicopter.

He said the fire was contained within 30 minutes and burned a total of a quarter acre.

Wink said the fire, which was located near a driveway, was under investigation, as there was no obvious indicator of how it started.

“Units will check it throughout the weekend because it is going to be hot and dry,” Wink said.

With fuels still very dry, humidity low and no rain yet, “We still have the potential for significant wildland fires in the county,” Wink said, urging area residents to use caution as the dry weather continues.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .